*****
How small the Ring seems now.
Kari plucked restlessly at her speechdrop -which had been given to her for some reason- waiting for the announcer to call her up. She felt no fear. Fear was useless here unless one was willing to be torn to shreds. Everything inside her was boiled away into a mass of determination and hate. Black Hood could throw what they wished at her. She would not lose.
"WASN'T THAT A HUMDINGER OF A MATCH, FOLKS?" the announcer shouted exuberantly. The crowd roared, although not nearly as loudly as before. Even now, people were coming to their senses and leaving the sports complex. Only a fourth of the original audience remained, if only out of morbid curiosity. The announcer still shouted on, unaware that his listening audience was steadily diminishing. "AND NOW FOR THE LAST TWO COMPETETORS! THE WINNER OF THIS MATCH WILL RECEIVE THE PRIZE OF ONE BILLION DOLLARS!" The announcer paused a moment for dramatic emphasis. "THE LOSER WILL WALK AWAY WITH NOTHING!"
In the tunnel leading to the Ring, Kari impatiently beat her fist against the concrete block wall, the faces of those who were now just barely out of reach racing through her brain. Just get on with it, damn you!
"AS THE CHALLENGER, BLACK HOOD PRESENTS KARI ICHARAAA!"
Kari jogged into the Ring, pleasantly surprised that the roars of the crowd weren't all comprised of hatred. Grinning widely, she waved cheerily at the box seat where Mira and the wizards sat, imagining the horrified looks they were probably giving her. The blank-eyed girl cracked her neck and shook her limbs out, readying herself. Despite her confident manner, the first seeds of apprehension were beginning to sprout in her stomach.
Stay calm, Kari, and victory will find you, she reminded herself.
"AND NOW FOLKS, PUT YOU HANDS TOGETHER FOR THE PRIDE AND JOY OF TODAY'S MATCH!"
Kari craned her neck to see into the tunnel opposite to her, trying to snatch a glimpse of her opponent's facial structure or body type so she could tell who it was. It was a woman, but very little else could be seen from such a distance.
"BLACK HOOD IS PROUD TO PRESENT…"
The figure stepped forth. Kari felt her heart stall and her stomach drop. She took an involuntary step back as the figure came forward.
No…. Not her. Please, not her….
"…THE ONE AND ONLY…"
Please, no….
"ALETHA THE RENDER!"
*****
As the blond woman crossed the Ring, Mira's horrified scream shattered the silence in the box seat. Even Aletha's walk was dangerous, telling of screaming bloodlust and bloody violence in every step. She was of average height and her tightly bound hair was blond, like Kari, but her eyes were deep violet while her daughter's had once been blue.
"My God." Nat sounded like he was about to be sick. "Is she wearing-?"
Silently the telekinetic nodded. Aletha's cannibalistic taste in clothing material was legendary. Even from where she sat, Mira could imagine her picking out those with acceptable tattoos to become part of her wardrobe. Today she wore the scant… leather… costume in deepest black.
A deep, shuddering sigh came from Gil. By the look of it, he was trying to keep from crying. "Kari's going to die, isn't she?"
Mira watched as Zach pulled out his rosary again before replying. "Perhaps."
*****
Aletha the Render smiled supinely at her lost daughter as she approached. The world seemed to go silent, save for the clicking of her steel-shod boots against the cement floor. A whip was coiled around her wrist. Kari knew it well, remembering time after time it had bitten into her back and flanks. The Render stopped a scant six feet away, still giving her that oily snake's smile.
"Well met, daughter," she said. The words seemed to slither over each other as they were said.
Kari glared at her and realised why she had been given back her speechdrop. I was never your daughter.
Violet eyes slitted in anger. "I own you, girl! I bore you! You're mine!"
Go to Hell, bitch.
"READYYYYY….BEGIN!"
The whip snapped out, slashing a bloody line into Kari's chest before she could even react. Gasping, she sprang out of range. Aletha laughed and rounded on her.
"Of course!" She sounded delighted as around them the crowd began to scream encouragement for both sides. "I forgot how scared you are of being hit!"
Shut up and fight, old woman.
Violet eyes lit up. "If you insist."
Fists smashed into bone, knees pounded into flesh and Kari found herself on the floor of the Ring, struggling to refill her lungs and get beck to her feet. Her opponent sauntered over and crouched comfortably on her back, listening hungrily to the roars of the crowd.
"What's wrong, girl?" The Render's voice singsonged. "Too hard for you?"
Never.
A fist smashed between Kari's shoulder blades, making her jerk in agony. "Then hit me." The fist smashed down again. "Hit me, girl. Hit me! If you're so set on winning quit being a pussy and hit me!" Again and again Aletha's fist smashed down and again and again Kari was powerless to get up and stop her.
Finally Aletha tired of her brutal game and hauled her lost daughter to her feet by the hair. Without warning, she backed off.
Kari merely stood there, vainly trying to understand what was happening.
"Well, are you going to fight?" Aletha complained like a child whose favourite toy of moment refused to work. She stepped closer, forcing Kari onto her heels, and clamped an iron hand around her neck. "All right then. All the more fun for me."
The girl struggled as she was lifted from the ground and flung into a nearby wall. The cement around her shattered as she struck it, leaving a deep impression behind as she landed in a heap on the ground.
Aletha glided up to her, her laughter all but drowned out by the crowd. "Get up, girl. We aren't finished here yet."
Spitting blood, Kari stumbled to her feet. Bring it on.
Again she was flung into the wall, slamming another crater in to show her passage.
"You know you can't win." Flipping her hair out of her eyes, Aletha prodded her daughter with the toe of her boot. "It reminds me of when you lost your beauty. You tried again and again to get up and it just earned you another stripe. Just give up here. Let yourself lose."
No. Kari scrubbed at the blood flowing from her nose with the back of her hand. My friends…. And all the hostages…. I can't stop.
"How do you even know they're even alive?"
I….
"Maybe they're all dead. Burned away. Or fed to the rookie fighters, perhaps. Or just allowed to rot. It makes no difference, really." Sniffing, the cruel woman sat comfortably down. "Those boys of your were great fun. It took a lot to break them. The girl was another thing. She cried after her first night as a Wife." She smiled. "I didn't bother playing with the hostages. They weren't nearly as entertaining."
No!
"Yes."
I…. Kari hung her head, utterly defeated. I… I give up.
The crowd shouted and called as she again got to her feet. Aletha grinned, watching with glee as the bloodied girl staggered to kneel at the feet of her better. Sighing, she dropped to her knees.
"That's right. Fall to your knees. Beg me for forgiveness."
Kari looked up. M-mother?
"What?"
You always were too gullible.
Aletha's head snapped back as Kari shot to her feet, slamming her head into the older woman's jaw. Swiftly Kari grabbed either side of her mother's head and pulled herself up into a handstand position.
See you in Hell.
With a quick twist, Kari jerked herself around, bringing around as well the head of Aletha the Render. With the help of the microphones planted around the Ring, a sickening crack echoed around the complex.
*****
We won. Oh my lord, we won!
Stupefied silence reigned in the box seat as Mira and the wizards stared in shock at the image on the giant screen over the Ring. Kari was calmly walking away from the body of her biological mother, its torso facing upwards, its head facing down.
"We…" Zach swallowed. "I think we won."
"We did." Although he was still somewhat dazed, Talon's face began to break into a smile. "We won!"
Next to him, Nat began to laugh, throwing his arms around himself and rocking in utter relief. "Thank God, it's finally over!"
Near the window, Gil had his hand over his face, sobbing with joy like a weary child. "My children! I can finally see my children again!"
"Misty will finally come home!" Tears of relief ran down the tiny channels of wrinkles in Zach's face.
"It's finally over!"
"We can all go home!"
"No," Mira interrupted softly. The wizards stopped their celebrating to stare at her. "It's not over until we have the hostages and are far away from here."
The wizards sat down.
"Now what do we do?" said Nat at length. The crowds were slowly filtering out, now that the action was all over. A few remained, however, waiting for the awarding of the billion dollars that would never come. Below, Walker, Darien, Ryu and Kari were standing in the tunnel, waiting to see the first sign of the captured innocents.
A man's even laughter cut through the public address system, causing the five to look up sharply. There on the giant screen was a man in front of the Black Hood logo.
"Hello, all," he said, his voice creamy and smooth, like a balm to the soul. He was nondescript. His eyes were light grey, his skin was of an average shade and his hair was what could only be called hair-coloured. Even his suit was unremarkable, a single-breasted jacket with a slim, dull black tie to break the monotony of his shirt. But his voice…. "I trust you all had a lovely time? Of course you did."
Confused, a few of the remaining spectators –there was probably not more than twenty of them left now- began to murmur amongst each other. Walker, Darien, Ryu and Kari rushed to the centre of the Ring, which added to the murmuring.
Smooth-voice ignored them. "Still, we at Black Hood have a small confession to make."
"Say it, Meeghan!" The microphones in the Ring were still on and picked up Darien spitting on the ground by his feet quite nicely.
"Darren Meeghan," Mira whispered to the others. "He's a higher-up in Black Hood and the only one of Black Hood who's actually been formally identified."
"And he's never been punished?"
"No." Mira looked back at Gil. "He's allowed to be in the spotlight because he's too good to get caught."
The smooth-voiced man went on. "You see, although it was certainly a lovely gesture for you four to come all this way-" His words were cut off by a slew of automatic gunfire and screams off camera, "-the hostages are no more. We're also keeping those children you seem to be so fond of."
"BASTARD!" Ryu screamed.
Up in the box seats, Gil began to cry anew.
Why!
Satan himself seemed to smile as Darren Meeghan went on. "We wish to wage war upon you, of course. We want our freaks back, we want our isotubes back and we want you to work under us. It's quite simple, really." He moved closer to the camera. "We've been watching you. These five boys are really quite special to you, aren't they? There's something about them that makes them valuable to you. And we know you'd do anything for the safe return of the youngest Broman sister. So you see, we have you right where we want you."
Talon laughed bitterly. "They have no idea there are people left. There are at least twenty witnesses out there."
"But will they talk?" The dark-haired telekinetic bit her lip, looking out at the petrified audience below. "Or will they decide to take the safe route and keep silent?"
"You forget," Zach broke in, a wide, evil grin on his face. "The whole thing is being broadcast by dreamdrop back at the Keep. Hundreds of people are seeing this right now!"
"I see you don't feel like answering, Lord Broman." Meeghan laughed creamily. "Do you see? You've lost! You're cut off from the law, your Keep, your magic. You're powerless until we take the collars off and we won't do it until you submit."
Walker stepped forward. "You have one hour."
Amused, Meeghan smiled at him like a benevolent teacher taking pity on the stupidest child in the class. "Until?"
"Until I find you and get them myself."
The laughter from the screen was deafening. "And how would you manage to do that?"
"Well, Darren, you're in the fourth sub-basement of the Battle Creek base which is located in a small office building around the edge of town. Misty is on the second floor, Duo and Trowa are on the third floor Wufei and Heero are on the third sub-basement and Quatre is on the eighth sub-basement and. Don't ask how I know that. You know I won't tell you anyway. And if you decide to be clever and move them during the hour I'm giving you, I'll still find them. And then I'll find you, Meeghan. Do you really want that to happen?"
For a scant moment, the smooth smile faltered, but Meeghan quickly covered himself. "You're bluffing! You can't possibly know all that for sure!"
"Sure I do." Walker smiled, unaware that everyone else in the complex was staring at him. "What's more, you know I do."
"Fine. You and the other wizards still have the collars on. There's no way you could possibly-"
The nondescript man fell silent as a slender metal collar hit the floor of the Ring and bounced with a resounding ting.
"Remember, Meeghan. I'm giving you one hour." Walker smiled, his fangs lengthening with every word. "Hope to see you there."
*****